Trivia

Ocean version

Before Elite had the licence to the game, Ocean had started programming their own version but it had to be scrapped when Elite acquired the licence from under Ocean's nose. The deal with the distributor had only been a handshake allowing Elite to jump in and take the deal.

TV documentation

When the game was released, the Central TV franchise based in the Birmingham area heard that the game was programmed by a schoolboy, and wanted to do a feature on this latest programming whizz-kid. To verify the situation they contacted Spectrum magazine Crash! , whose deputy editor Roger Kean quipped (perhaps sensing an opportunity) "I'll have to ask our schoolboy reviewers" (the magazine had strong 'fanzine'-type roots). Soon after Central sent a TV crew to Crash!'s offices in Ludlow, but by fate the journalist they asked about the game was the only one of the three reviewers who wasn't hugely keen on the game, so the final report largely focused on Crash! and ignored Airwolf.